- Both Alpine A424s finished the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in front of a record crowd of 332,000 people.
- Despite several setbacks, the two crews dug deep to finish tenth and eleventh.
- The stage is already set for 2026 to do even better in the FIA World Endurance Championship marquee event.
A year after its debut in the premier category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the A424s returned to the Sarthe aiming to demonstrate their progress in the most daunting race on the calendar.
Alpine Endurance Team was on track for the Test Day last Sunday and fine-tuned its preparations in free practice on Wednesday and Thursday. In qualifying, both Hypercars of the A-arrow brand advanced to the Hyperpole. Mick Schumacher qualified ninth in the #36 car while Paul-Loup Chatin was twelfth in the #35 car, just 0.092s outside the top ten.
After a busy Friday punctuated by the drivers’ parade in the city centre, the team conducted its final check of systems and procedures during Saturday’s warm-up. Frédéric Makowiecki and Ferdinand Habsburg were on track for the 15-minute task before the 4 pm start of the race.
The 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans started in the presence of Luca de Meo, Renault Group CEO. Les Bleus were cautious and ran close to the top ten before encountering their first setbacks. A battery cooling system pressurisation issue was detected on the #36 car. Both Hypercars were then penalised for exceeding the speed limit at the pit lane entrance.
The crews pressed on with Jules Gounon and Mick Schumacher in the #36 car and Charles Milesi and Paul-Loup Chatin in the #35 car. The latter received a drive-through penalty after contact with another competitor. In the darkness, the three drivers carried out their plan until the first and only safety car period before half-distance. Stuck at the red light at the pit lane exit, Mick Schumacher pushed on as soon as the race resumed. The A424s were consistently among the fastest on track and remained ready to seize any opportunity to get back on the lead lap.
However, the night proved extremely quiet, and the French team continued the battle at dawn. Running 13th, the #36 car dropped back when Jules Gounon wound up in the gravel trap after locking a wheel at the Mulsanne corner. Soon after, a full course yellow forced the Frenchman to make an emergency pit stop before handing over to Mick Schumacher.
The team avoided the hazards of the race’s final hours to enter the top ten with car #35. The final efforts of Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi saw them finish tenth. Meanwhile, Jules Gounon, Frédéric Makowiecki and Mick Schumacher climbed up to eleventh after a fierce battle with the #94 Peugeot.
Alpine also made headlines throughout the week with events and parades dedicated to the brand’s 70th anniversary, as well as demo runs of Alpenglow Hy6, which offered the large crowd a glimpse of the future and carbon-free motorsport.
Alpine Endurance Team now turns its attention to the 6 Hours of São Paulo (11-13 July), round five of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
Quotes
Crew #35
Ferdinand Habsburg
“Le Mans is extremely tough and frustrating, even more so when you feel like you don’t have the pace. On the positive side, it’s great that the team never gave up and that means you shouldn’t either. Although we showed some weaknesses and weren’t fast enough, there’s a strong spirit of unity. We’re all in this together, and we fight together. That motivates everyone to come back stronger and do better next year.”
Charles Milesi
“It was a difficult race. Overall, we lacked performance but also lost time on several pit stops that didn’t go as planned. We need to analyse everything to understand where we lost time, including in comparison to the sister car. We have some ideas, but we need to confirm it. However, both crews managed to finish the race and that’s a good thing.”
Paul-Loup Chatin
“I have mixed feelings because there is real satisfaction in getting the car to the finish, but also a little disappointment with our level of performance. A top-ten finish is a good result, but our ambition was a notch higher. That’s motorsport: every race is different, and it’s important to learn the right lessons to return stronger. There are many positives to take away. The team, engineers and drivers didn’t make any major mistakes. We made a few execution errors, but they wouldn’t have fundamentally changed the outcome.”
Crew #36
Frédéric Makowiecki
“It was a very informative week. This race highlights what we are missing to be able to fight for the victory. We showed some pace at times, but we must learn to understand better, prepare and harness the A424’s potential throughout the race. The start revealed some issues that we hadn’t fully anticipated. Despite everything, the team can be proud of getting both cars to the finish. That was one of our main goals, we achieved it, but we know how much work we still have to do to become real contenders at Le Mans. We now have a year to work hard because these difficult moments are not so difficult if we learn from them.”
Jules Gounon
“Unfortunately, we had a difficult race. We made small mistakes that probably cost us a top-eight finish. We could have hoped to be there, but in the end, no one delivered a perfect performance. The most important thing is that we finished the race, and it was great to see two Alpine cars at the finish. That’s the positive thing to take away, but we must also analyse and learn from our weaknesses to return stronger next year.”
Mick Schumacher
“The main goal was to finish the race, and we did it. We’re racing with a lot of ambition, so I’m not entirely satisfied with our final position. I always strive to do my best to help the team as much as possible. They did an excellent job considering the difficulties and problems we encountered. I’m glad to be able to take a break before turning my attention to São Paulo, one of my favourite tracks, ready to move on!”
Philippe Sinault, Team Principal Alpine Endurance Team
“The results are mixed. We are really pleased that both cars finished and have managed reliability issues well, despite an alert handled perfectly by the team at the beginning of the race. Getting both A424s through 24 hours is no mean feat; it’s a milestone. However, there is also disappointment. Given our level of performance at the end of the race, we could have aimed for a top-five finish without the small mistakes we did and issues we encountered. In this new era, every detail matters, as the gaps are so small. Nevertheless, this frustration is healthy. It motivates us to come back stronger. All the information we gathered was essential and will help us improve and continue to build something strong. Our next race is in Brazil, in a very different context. Before that, we need to digest and analyse the data with a clear head to move forward. We know that we are not yet in a position to compete for victory at Le Mans. That’s a fact, so it’s up to us to work hard to get there.”
Nicolas Lapierre, Sporting Director Alpine Endurance Team
“I’m happy that both cars made it to the chequered and scored points, but I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t have the race we should have had. Our pace wasn’t perfect, and we made mistakes. So, we could have done better, which is frustrating. That said, we learned a lot and gathered a wealth of information. We must analyse and understand it, but it will benefit the rest of the season and the programme.”
Bruno Famin, VP Alpine Motorsports
“We didn’t set ourselves a quantitative target, but we did have a strong qualitative objective: to continue building on the momentum we generated last year and finish the race with both cars. We achieved this despite some complicated moments. The team found the resources to react and fight until the end. It also shows we still have much to learn about the car and how it works. There is real fundamental work to do. We have reached a new level, but we still have a lot of work to do to reach the level we have set for ourselves: fighting for podiums at every race.”
CLASSIFICATIONS
24 Hours of Le Mans 2025
1. AF Corse – Ferrari #83
10. Alpine Elf Endurance Team #35
11. Alpine Elf Endurance Team #36
FIA Hypercar World Endurance Drivers Championship
1. Calado / Giovinazzi / Pier Guidi – 105 points
9. Gounon / Makowiecki / Schumacher – 32 points
17. Chatin / Habsburg / Milesi – 8 points
FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturer’s Championship
1. Ferrari – 202 points
6. Alpine – 46 points
